Knitting mechanism



Sept. 17, 1935.

E. KINSELLA ET AL KNITTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 26, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet1 FIGA.

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Flt-1-10- '55 Sept. 17, 1935. E. KINSELLA El AL KNITTING MECHANISMFiled-.rQc't. .26, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 17, 193.5

UNITED STATES KNITTING. Mechanism Edward Kinsella, John Gordon Pratt,and Bernard Kelsall, ,Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors toCelanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware ApplicationOctober 26, 1932, Serial No. 639,637

' In Great Britain November 3, 1931.

3Claims. (c1. 66-86) I l I o This invention relates to the production oftextile fabrics, and more particularly to the prodution of knittedfabrics onwarp knitting machines. 5' The object of the invention is toimprove warp knitting machines with the object of greatlyincreasingltheir rate of working and smoothness of operation, andrenderingthem capable of knitting fabrics of better and more uniformquality.

10 It, has been found that a much improved rate of operation can beeffected if the weight of the needle, sinker and guide bars and of likeknitting I parts can be reduced in proportion to the strength of suchparts and their resistance against deflec- 15 tion. v According to thepresent invention the thread guides, needles, sinkers and like aresecured to their bars by means of light fusible alloy of low specificgravity. Preferably the members are secured in series in a strip of suchlight al- 20 10y, the strip being then fixed in position along the' edgeof the bar. Alternately thermembers may be secured in series to a steelor other light,

'25 responding bar. LA light alloy which is capable of solderingitself'to the needles .and to the steel or like support if used ispreferably employed, since this enables a relatively small amount of thealloy to be used and so further reduces the 30 weight of the movingmasses. A zinc-cadmium alloy is verysuitable for this purpose;

The method of securing the knitting parts to their bars according to theinvention greatly reduces the force necessary for .the rapid move- 35men-t of such parts, and, inconsequence, the vibration resulting fromsuch forces. Thus for example, it is necessary that the thread guidesshould be capable of making extremely rapid movements both ina directionendwise ofthemachine and also between the needles. By adopting-the lightconstruction described above, the

' oscillatory guidemovements in both directions corresponding patternbeing'formed on the sec-' tions also, e. g. cast into the light fusiblemetal applied so that the inter-engagement of the 55 grooves and ridgesforms a very firm connection.

application S. No. 639,636 filed 26th October,

the needles. v

There are several light, readily-fusible alloys having sufllciently lowmelting'points to enable This is especially important in connection withthem to be used for the purpose of the present 5 invention, for example,a zinc-aluminiumalloy containing 95% zinc has a specific gravity of 6.3,an ultimate tensile strength of 6 tons per sq. in. and a melting pointof 386 C., and a zine-magnesium alloy containing 52% zinc has a specific10 gravity of 4.6, an ultimate tensile strength of 6 tons per sq. in.and a melting point of 350. C. The lightness and strength of thesealloys allow the needles, etc. to be rigidly secured in position whileusing quite a low weight of the fusible metal. v

It is preferred, therefore, to use a zinc-cadmium alloy which, whilehaving a low specific gravity of 8.3, has a very high ultimatetensflestrength of 10 tons per sq. in. so that in conjunction with its abilityto solder itself to the needles, etc. enables the needles, etc. to besecured firmly in place by means of a very small weight of alloy. The

. alloy having the low specific gravityand the high tensile strengthgiven above contains a slight excess of. zinc over the 17.4% of zincform- 'ing a eutectic mixture with cadmium, and also a minuteproportionof chromium to refine the grain size, improve the surfaceobtainable, and increase the strength slightly. This alloy presents thefurther advantages of having a shear strength of8-8.5 tons per sq. in.and also the very low" melting point of 263 C., which renders itparticularly suitable for the purpose of the present invention. l

The invention may be employed with advantage in connection with the formof needlebar, sinker bar, and guide bars described in U. S.

1932, and also with U. S. application S. No. 639,638 filed 26th October,1932, which is concerned primarily with means for balancing thevibrational forces set up by the rapid motions of the knitting parts andthereby nullifying and greatly reducing the efiects of such vibrationalforces on the machine frame.

The inventionv will now be describedin greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that this descrip-5 tion is given by way of example only and is in no respect limitative.

Figures 1 and 2 show a plan view and a sectional elevation of one formof guide section accordingto the present invention; '55

Figures 3 and 4 show similar views of another form of guide section;

Figures 5 and 6, and '7' and 8 respectively show two forms of sinkersections similar to the guide sections of Figures 1 and 2, and 3 and 4;

Figures 9 and 10 show two views of aneedle section;

Figure his a" sectional view along the line Il--l l of Figure 9;

Figure 12 shows a view corresponding to Figure 9 of a smallervs'ectionof needles; I

Figure 13 shows an assembled view in sectional elevation of the needlebar, sinker bar, presser bar and guide bars with the knitting partsattached: and

Figure 14 shows the needle bar in separate parts in order to illustratethe assembly.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the thread guides,

ll areconnected to a plate ll of pressed sheet steel by means of a bodyof light but strong fusible alloy which'is-castround'the guides lland.the plate I! when they are assembled in position. The sectionsillustrated in this and subsequent figures are on a large scale, thedensity of spacing represented beingof the order of 28 guides, sinkersor needles to the inch. It will be seen that the plate It isperforatedas at 2| in order to ensure that the metal 20 should'besecurely bonded thereto. In addition it is preferable that the metal-at20 should be self soldering not only to the guides 11 but also to themetal of the plate 18, for which purposea zinc-cadmium slightly greaterbulk of metal required may be.

alloy is particularly suitable. The plate It is very light but rigid, sothat in conjunction with the small amount of the alloy required, theweight of the assembly is made very low. The whole guide section isadapted to be bolted onto the guide bar by means of a bolt passingthrough the hole 22 provided for the purpose, the several sectionsfitting closely against each other so as to be held rigidly to the bar,and forming a continuous series of closely spaced guides.

In Figures 3 and 4 the guides II are shown run into a casting 24consisting wholly of light fusible.

metal, such as zinc-cadmium, the shape of the casting 24 being similarto that of the combined plate It and mass-20 illustrated in'Figure 2.The

wholly or in part oiI-set by using an alloy of light specific gravity ascompared with the steel of the plate ll. A-hole 22 is formed in thecasting 24 for the purpose of securing the sections of guidesto theguide bar.

In Figure 5, the sinkers 21 are secured to a member of pressedsteel 28by means ofa body 28 of fusible metal as described with reference toFigures 1 and 2' in connection with the guides. Here also holes 2| areprovided in the plate 28 for the secure bonding of the fusible metal 29thereto, and a hole 22 is left for securing the sections of sinkers tothe sinker bar. In addition the tips of the sinkers 21 are run into abody of fusible metal 30, the tips of the sinkers being of hooked shapeas indicated in Figure 6 in dotted lines at 3|, thus ensuring thatcorrect spacing. of the sinkersduring the knitting operation, e. g. 28to the inch, is maintained. In Figures '1 and 8, the sinkers 21- areshown 'run into a casting I2, consisting wholly of fusible metal as inthe case of the casting 24 described in Figures 3. and 4, f

the shape of this casting being similar to that ing members 40.

of the plate 28 and body of fusible metal II described with referencetorigures 5 and 6, As in 1 Figures 5 and 6 the hooked tips ll of theguides are run into a body of fusible metal ll.

Figures 9, 10 and 11 show three views of a section of fourteen needles,(sufficient for, say, ,9 inch length of needlebar) the needles a beingassembled in their correct spacing and run in with a body of metal It.The metal 3| is provided with ridges t1 and upstanding areas 28 on the,one side, to fit into corresponding grooves on the face of the needlebar; so that the needles maybe correctly positioned thereon. Inaddition, ridges-ll of metal are formed on the other side of thecasting. In Figure 12 a small section of three needles I! is shown,having only one ridge 31 and one upstanding part ll for posi- I tioningpurposes. Referring to Figure 13 it will be seen that the guide sections4! are secured to the guide bars 20 42 by means of bolts 43. while thesinker sections 44 are attached to the sinkerbar ll by means of bolts.461 The needles IB are secured in sections 41 to the needle bar l8 bymeans of clamp- The needle bar ll, needle sections 41 and clampingmember 43 are shown apart in Figure 14, and it will be'seen thatvertical grooves II are provided in the recessed face of the needle bar4| to correspond with the ridges I! on the 30 needle sections, while agroove ll extends horizontally along the whole length of the needle barto accommodate the upstanding parts ll of the needle sections, thesemeans accurately locating the needles and enabling them to be secured in35 correct position. The clamping member ll is lined with felt at 52into which the ridges ll on the back of the needle sections sink, sothat the needle sections may be securely clamped to the needlebarwithout being damaged.

In Figure 13 the rocker arms to which the guide 'bars 42, sinker bar 45and needle bar ll are secured are shown in chain dotted lines at I, Iand 51 respectively, while in this view also the presser bar it whichcarries the presser N and is supported by the presser lever I are alsoshown in the relative positionsthey occupy in thewarp knitting machine.r

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:---

1. Knitting elements for knitting machines secured in series by means ofa-zinc-cadmiumalloy having a specific gravity not exceeding-8.3, and inwhich cadmium predominates.

2. A knitting element section for machine comprisinga light metalsupport and a plurality of knitting elements embedded in series in saidsupport by means of a zinc-cadmium alloy having a specific gravity notexceeding 8.3, and in which cadmium predominates.

3. A knitting element section for a knitting machine comprising apressed metal support and a plurality of knitting elements embedded inseries in said support by means of a zinc-cadmium a knitting alloyhaving a specific gravity not exceeding 8.3,

